"The SIM card inserted in this iPhone does not appear to be supported." problem

Question

Level 1

17 points

"The SIM card inserted in this iPhone does not appear to be supported." problem

Hi,

I have an iPhone 4S that I bought and used in the US from ATT carrier. After I moved to India, I had requested ATT for the unlock which is approved. But the following message is displayed while trying to restore the same iPhone in India using another SIM card:

The SIM card inserted in this iPhone does not appear to be supported.

The SIM card that you currently installed in this iPhone is from a carrier that is not supported under the activation policy that is currently assigned by the activation server. This is not a hardware issue with the iPhone. Please insert another SIM card from a supported carrier or request that this iPhone be unlocked by your carrier. Please contact Apple for more information.

Can anyone suggest what should be done to resolve this issue?

Thanks,

Sri.

iPhone 4S, iOS 7.0.3

Posted on Nov 12, 2013 11:57 AM

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Answer 1

spot2383 Author

Level 1

17 points

Nov 12, 2013 11:59 AM in response to spot2383

I tried to contact Apple Customer Support but could not proceed as I am unable to see the Apple ID in the phone now.

Before restoring the iPhone, I had taken backup and erased all data from the phone as suggested by ATT carrier.

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Answer 2

ChrisJ4203

Level 10

230,281 points

Nov 12, 2013 12:02 PM in response to spot2383

You need to restore the device as new to complete the unlock process from AT&T. After that restore, you should see a message in iTunes saying Congratulations, your phone is unlocked. After that, you can continue with putting the foreign SIM into the device. Do you still have the AT&T SIM card?

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Answer 3

spot2383 Author

Level 1

17 points

Nov 12, 2013 12:06 PM in response to ChrisJ4203

Yes, I do.

Thanks Chris.

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Answer 4

ChrisJ4203

Level 10

230,281 points

Nov 12, 2013 12:18 PM in response to spot2383

Try doing the restore as new with the AT&T SIM in the phone. That is the last step you have to take to finish the unlock from AT&T, as it should have been explained in the email that you received from AT&T.

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Answer 5

spot2383 Author

Level 1

17 points

Nov 12, 2013 3:57 PM in response to ChrisJ4203

Restore with AT&T SIM in the phone was successful.

After putting the new SIM, it says,

"SIM has to be activated"

"Invalid SIM".

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Answer 6

ChrisJ4203

Level 10

230,281 points

Nov 12, 2013 4:53 PM in response to spot2383

Then that is something you need to take up with the carrier that provided you the SIM. Good luck.

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Answer 7

spot2383 Author

Level 1

17 points

Nov 13, 2013 3:23 PM in response to ChrisJ4203

I did contact AT&T and they advised me to try doing the restore once again. By the way, the first restore was done by my brother - he said that after the restore he didn't get any message like "Congratulations, your iPhone is restored".

I tried to do the restore now but was not successful due to this error (which came while the device was being restarted during restore):

"We could not complete your iTunes Store request. The network connection timed out.

Make sure your network settings are correct and your network connection is active, then try again."

I will try it later in the day once again - at any other location.

I have one more question (hopefully last one):

Is there any maximum number of attempts for restore?

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Answer 8

ChrisJ4203

Level 10

230,281 points

Nov 13, 2013 4:58 PM in response to spot2383

No there isn't a maximum number. The error you are referring to could mean that your security software on the computer is interrupting your ability to complete the restore. Try temporarily disabling the security software and try again.

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Answer 9

spot2383 Author

Level 1

17 points

Nov 13, 2013 9:32 PM in response to ChrisJ4203

I did the restore once again - at an Apple store in India. Everything looked alright but there was no message in the end saying that the phone is unlocked.

Should there be such a message?

How will I know if the phone is unlocked or not?

Finding the same problem once again - it doesn't recognize the Indian SIM.

The Service Rep said that the SIM I'm using is alright and asked me to contact AT&T.

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Answer 10

ChrisJ4203

Level 10

230,281 points

Nov 14, 2013 6:03 AM in response to spot2383

Are you restoring the device as new, not from a backup? The first restore after the unlock email has to be a restore as new. After that you should get the Congratulations message. Then you can restore from your latest backup with your India SIM installed. However, since it seems you are having these issues, contacting AT&T might not be a bad idea.

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Answer 11

spot2383 Author

Level 1

17 points

Nov 14, 2013 6:25 AM in response to ChrisJ4203

Both the restores done so far have been as new.

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Answer 12

ChrisJ4203

Level 10

230,281 points

Nov 14, 2013 6:28 AM in response to spot2383

Again, the only other option that I would know to do is to contact AT&T. They are the ones that control the lock on the device. They are the only one that can authorize the unlock. Without them, it cannot happen. You cannot use a foreign SIM on a locked device until the carrier unlocks it. When AT&T approved your unlock, did you receive an email from them stating such, along with the instructions to perform the restore? Something seems to have gotten lost in the process and the only way to fully correct it is to contact AT&T.

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Answer 13

spot2383 Author

Level 1

17 points

Nov 14, 2013 7:20 AM in response to ChrisJ4203

This is the e-mail I received from AT&T on Nov 5th:

Thank you for contacting AT&T Customer Care about unlocking your AT&T Mobile device.

We have reviewed your request and confirmed that the device may be unlocked.

Please allow 24 hours upon receipt of this notification to complete the unlock process.

To complete the unlock, simply

1. Open iTunes on your Mac or PC and verify that you have Internet connectivity.

2. Ensure a SIM card is inserted into your iPhone.

3. Connect your iPhone using the dock connector to USB cable that came with your iPhone.

4. Backup and restore your iPhone using iTunes. For information on backup and restore, please visit http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1414.

5. After restoring, your iPhone will be unlocked.

Additional information on unlocking can be found at http://support.apple.com/kb/TS3198

For questions regarding AT&T Mobile device, please visit the Phone/Device Learning Center.

Thank you for your business. For other questions about our AT&T wireless service or other Mobile devices, please visit att.com.

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Answer 14

spot2383 Author

Level 1

17 points

Nov 14, 2013 7:46 AM in response to spot2383

Also the AT&T website "http://www.att.com/" has been down since more than 7 hours 😟

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Answer 15

emzlet

Level 1

5 points

Dec 3, 2013 12:43 AM in response to spot2383

can you guys help me ?

my iphone 4S cant use 3

its from ireland

BB: 5.0.02
iOS 7.0.4

carrier : globe 15.5

but still icant use the 3g of it

then when i connect it to itunes using a globe sim it says the same thing on the top

The SIM card inserted in this iPhone does not appear to be supported.

The SIM card that you currently installed in this iPhone is from a carrier that is not supported under the activation policy that is currently assigned by the activation server. This is not a hardware issue with the iPhone. Please insert another SIM card from a supported carrier or request that this iPhone be unlocked by your carrier. Please contact Apple for more information.

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